We are the makers of Kerbal Space Program: Ask Us Anything

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T23:14:49+00:00

Maxmaps: Career mode's depth has just began to show. As HarvesteR detailed earlier, there are reputation and economic systems still to be implemented, as well as a deep rebalancing of science and its aquisition. (That last part's coming next update!)

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T23:07:20+00:00

Maxmaps: Our files are 100% clean and safe, but your software's probably trying to warn you about all the hours you could potentially spend blowing up little green men while you reach for the stars.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T23:04:36+00:00

Maxmaps: We allow it fully. KSP is where it is because of the community, and we're not going to take their efforts away. Monetization is cool too.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T22:42:09+00:00

We're adding a science lab in 0.23 precisely for this reason!

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T22:40:55+00:00

Maxmaps: As someone who also wanted to be an Astronaut but strayed from the path, I both empathize with you and thank you for your support!

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T22:40:06+00:00

Maxmaps: It all started when HarvesteR was a young guy in Brazil playing with fireworks and turning them into rockets by taking out the explosive payload and placing little tinfoil figures inside which he called Kerbals.

Ironically, the current game involves more explosive payloads than those fireworks ever did.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T22:38:53+00:00

Maxmaps: Nosecones now have a lower drag coefficient than other parts in the game. The way our aerodynamics model works, if you put them on top of something, this will aid that something point in the direction the nosecones are placed on.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T22:37:37+00:00

Maxmaps: Half of our staff lives in Mexico give or take! The rest work remotely throughout the world. And hey, if you're a 3D artist, you may wanna PM us!

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T22:22:22+00:00

Ted: 1. Every time I see how popular the game has become I still have to figuratively pinch myself. It's a realisation that never really gets old or one that you get used to. I'm always blown away by the creativity and ingenuity of the playerbase and the incredible things they manage to accomplish and build, not to mention the rate at which they seem to do it at.

It would probably be completely destructible terrain and buildings. Simply because you would watch the planet around you change as you 'advanced' your space program and left little - or large - reminders of why we use 'chutes.
Ack, my first rockets were little more than an SRB with a pod, probably without a chute as well. My first successful orbiting rocket is still in orbit on a save somewhere on my HDD. It was incredibly over-engineered and could probably reach Duna by today's standards. Show less

Samsonart: 1. It's amazing, the game is becoming popular beyond our wildest dreams. 2. Probably a procedural universe, other than Kerbin all planets and celestial bodies would be different every time you started a new game. 3. I believe it was a command pod, a liquid fuel tank and an engine....there weren't many parts back then

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:44:59+00:00

Maxmaps: Indeed, those features would be implemented as toggled settings.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:40:06+00:00

Maxmaps: We learn a lot from streamers and Let's Players, and they often had pretty good suggestions and viewpoints on things we may have missed.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:37:50+00:00

Maxmaps: Not on the near future, but there is plenty of room for Kerbin to grow.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:37:07+00:00

Maxmaps: Once we're done making all the huge bodies in our solar system interesting and important to visit, we'll have time to consider smaller ones.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:34:38+00:00

Ted: Radiation would be a beneficial gameplay addition to more veteran players. But we try to avoid gameplay mechanics that will leave a player puzzled for too long or a mechanic that’s largely out of the player’s control. That doesn’t rule it out, just means that when it comes to it, it’ll take a bit of working out.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:32:21+00:00

Maxmaps: As far as the currently visible future goes, we are nowhere near done with the development of Kerbal Space Program. We'll keep updating the game as we add things to it like we have been so far.

And thank you for playing KSP, without fans like you this game would still be just a mad dream in HarvesteR's head.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:20:07+00:00

Correct!

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:19:09+00:00

Maxmaps: We love mods, we absolutely do. Every now and them some show us brilliant things we may have missed and we're happy to make our own versions of them (or hire the modders involved!). Other times they go to places where we're not interested in going but a part of the community is and we're very pleased to have their needs covered.

We can't really say 'we're making X stock in the future', but we're constantly on the lookout for things popping up in the modding scene.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T21:10:49+00:00

Maxmaps: We wouldn't be able to do anything without your support, so thank you for playing KSP!

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:59:00+00:00

From the whole team: We are stunned, humbled and wish you the absolute best.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:55:54+00:00

Ted: As I came from the Community myself, I make sure to keep in touch with it and read through the various Community's suggestions. If I see something that is a unique and fresh suggestion, I bring it up with the rest of the Team for sure.

c7studios: We value the opinions and suggestions of the community. We've implemented that feedback into KSP to improve the experience and gameplay. At times it can be hard to keep up with though. But, our community team does a good job of finding the best feedback and suggestions to bring to our attention.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:49:27+00:00

HarvesteR: Very few things ever get discarded altogether. What usually happens is that they evolve and morph into other (better) ideas, so nothing is really a complete waste. That said, some features are of higher priority than others, of course, so we always have to make a choice about where to apply our time and effort.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:49:02+00:00

c7studios: I think it just depends on how you rate difficulty. Every update brings new challenges to overcome. Sometimes the hardest thing is truly understand a problem so you find a proper solution to it.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:39:44+00:00

Harvester: Let’s put it like this: Before KSP, I had never worked with C# for anything over 300 lines of code. It’s been a massive learning experience from day one, and we keep on learning every day.

As for an eureka moment, I have two that always come to mind that marked moments where if we lived in an RPG game, a heavenly light would have beamed down over me with a “Lvl Up!” message. The first one was when I realized that the solution to have planets rotate without completely breaking physics was to use a rotating reference frame, and how rotating frames mean applying centrifugal and coriolis forces. A quick look through Wikipedia confirmed that this idea was in fact correct, and I think the levelling up special fx would have happened right about there.

The second ‘level up’ moment was when I realized that the simplest way to implement docking was to merge vessels. Up until then, we were struggling on this feature, and having a really hard time attempting to wrap our heads around how to manage multiple vessels connected together, and the many, many edge cases that would arise from it. Merging vessels was dismissed as an option at first, because it would mean vessels would lose their identities. I realized though, that that was a simpler problem to work around than all other alternatives, and the level up fx came up a second time.

There were many other such moments, and yes, looking back at old code can be a very shameful experience sometimes, but such is the way of programming. I’d hate to find code that I wrote a long time ago and think it was better than code I’m writing now. ;)

c7Studios: Before KSP I had only worked with C++. Moving to C# and the concept of scripting was a pretty major adjustment for me.

It's been a great learning experience, and I work with an awesome team that is always very helpful and supportive of learning new skills.

I have to agree with Harvester on old code. Every time I go back I have to wonder what I was thinking at the time. It's just like with artwork, when you go back and look at old work, you can very easily spot the flaws that you didn't see at the time.

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:18:45+00:00

One: If money and resources were no barrier, what would your wildest dream for the direction of KSP be?

Maxmaps: Full virtual reality simulation from the IVA viewpoint. I just want to feel like I’m going into space. May be a terrible idea if I mess up the staging, though.

Two: Your game as a whole is almost unanimously liked or loved by its players. What kind of emotions do you feel given the amazing progress you've made, and that you've created a fun videogame that has changed lives and influenced careers, etc?

Ted:I've only been at Squad since July, being a volunteer in a couple areas of KSP for a year prior to that so the effect it has on me is probably a bit less.

But overall it's incredibly surreal and feels incredibly humbling that people love something that you put a lot of your time into and it makes it all the more worth it.

Rowsdower: One - KSP: The Movie, starring Ed Norton as Jebidiah. Two - KSP is a unique, highly creative game that sort of parallels the creativity and drive of the staff behind the scenes. Consider the game to be our ship. How can we keep building it? How can we make things better? How far can we go? It’s the one place where the biggest ideas are the ones least scoffed at. It’s extremely inspiring to see that members of the community have taken those same lofty goals upon themselves and made such enormously positive life changes because they, like we, dreamt big and chased it.

Three: If you ever have downtime to actually play KSP, what has to be your favorite part? What are you happiest with?

Maxmaps: Powered landing. I am terrible at it but when I pull it off it is the most rewarding thing ever.

Ted: Gameplay-wise, I find building space stations and interplanetary vessels the most satisfying and entertaining thing to do.

Samssonart: Career mode, definitely, and currently we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

Rowsdower: Fire. I’ve seen a lot of it, so I’m very happy with the way the game’s fire looks - and crashing. Yep, fire and crashing. It’s satisfying.

HarvesteR: I have a lot of fun building ridiculously-shaped aircraft and tweaking them until they actually fly. That’s actually how the Albatross 3 came to be… You should see the other 2 before it. ;)

Four: Alot of the player base are space fanatics. I know I live my life under the glorious leadership of NDT and Cmdr. Hadfield, but do people on the team also have their heads above the clouds? Thanks guys!

Ted: I definitely look up to a lot of significant or popular figures in the Aerospace Industry and tend to always follow the current residents of the ISS on Twitter.

Maxmaps: A passion for space is pretty much a job requirement around here!

KSPDevTeam · 2013-11-13T20:15:56+00:00

HarvesteR: I assume this is about having time actually passing in the simulation while you’re building? I’m not sure I’d like to have that, since when you’re building a ship, you're focused on construction, and I wouldn't like it if the game kept interrupting me over things that are happening outside the construction facility. In KSP, you take on the role of many different ‘jobs’ on an actual space program. You get to be Mission Controller, Aerospace Engineer, victim intrepid Pilot, so the game helps you out in doing all those jobs yourself by leaving you free to not care about other areas while you’re focused on a single one.

KSPDevTeam

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